


Fazed

by rulesofthebeneath (radishphilosophy)



Series: How 'Bout A Dance? [2]
Category: Choices: High School Story: Class Act (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Grace Is Bad At Feelings, Toxic exes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 16:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19299184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radishphilosophy/pseuds/rulesofthebeneath
Summary: “Hey! You’re just in time, dinner’s almost ready.” Grace said, pulling him in for a quick kiss hello before turning her attention back to the stove.Ajay took a deep breath as he sat down, trying desperately to control his thoughts. Come on, he told himself, this is Grace. You know she wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Still, he had a hard time keeping the uneasiness off his face, and he knew it showed.





	Fazed

As soon as he unlocked the door to their apartment, Ajay could smell the unforgettable scent of tandoori chicken coming from the kitchen. The scent filled his brain with memories, of evenings with his grandparents in India every summer, of happy family dinners back when there was such a thing, of the last time he’d come home to the same smell. That last memory wasn’t a good one; what followed had been a night laden with guilt and manipulation, tied up with the ribbon of him finally giving in: telling Isabella that he’d talk to his producer about her newest screenplay just to get her to stop bothering him about it. And that may have been the first time it happened, but it wasn’t the last.

 

It was that memory that was at the forefront of his mind as he quietly closed the door behind him, hanging his briefcase and his coat from the hooks on the wall near the door. When the door clicked shut, the woman at the stove turned to him, her smile turned up to a million watts. He couldn’t help but fall in love with her all over again anytime she did that. His defenses lowered the slightest bit as she beckoned him over with a wooden spoon.

 

“Hey! You’re just in time, dinner’s almost ready.” Grace said, pulling him in for a quick kiss hello before turning her attention back to the stove.

 

Ajay took a deep breath as he sat down, trying desperately to control his thoughts.  _ Come on _ , he told himself,  _ this is Grace. You know she wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. _ Still, he had a hard time keeping the uneasiness off his face, and he knew it showed.

 

Grace handed him a plate of the chicken, neatly arranged on a bed of basmati with a lemon wedge garnish. He took it over to their breakfast bar and she joined him soon after.

 

“Thank you,” Ajay started, painfully aware that he sounded less than grateful. “But I thought I was the chef in this relationship?”

 

Grace smiled. “You’re the chef because you’re way better at this than I am. But I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

 

Her words echoed through Ajay’s memory, honing in on those nights years ago where he’d came home to sense the guilt-tripping, of his ex-girlfriend laying it on thick with pleas and even threats, where he’d realized too late that she didn’t love him, that she was just using him. As much as he tried to resist, he couldn’t help but draw connections between that all those years ago and this now. He knew it wasn’t fair, but he automatically closed himself off to Grace. And she definitely noticed.

 

Her face fell. “Did I do something wrong?”

 

He wanted so badly to say no, to cast this off, to stop worrying her and to enjoy the nice dinner she’d made for him. But he couldn’t. He laid down his fork as gently as he could manage, then spoke directly to her in a quiet voice.

“Grace, why did you make this for me?”

 

Grace blinked, clearly confused, but she answered him. 

 

“I knew the show you’re directing has been stressing you out, and I wanted to treat you to something.”

 

That hit Ajay harder than anything else, and he was pulled back through his own memories.

***

_ “I just wanted to do something nice for you, Ajay. Why do you always question me?” _

 

_ “Oh, so you’re going to tell me you don’t have ulterior motives for this one? What makes it different from all the other ones, Bella? What do you want from me?” _

 

_ “I want to treat you to something! Stop being so fucking paranoid all the time. I know the show you’re directing is kicking your ass, and I wanted to be nice. Guess I won’t ever do that again.” _

 

_ “Just… just tell me what you want,” Ajay said tiredly, “And you know I’ll give it to you. We don’t have to go through this every time.” _

 

_ “...Fine,” Isabella relented, grabbing a thick manuscript from the table and handing it to him. “Give this to your producer.” _

 

_ Ajay dropped the manuscript on the counter.  _

 

_ “What if I say no?” _

 

_ “What?” Isabella demanded, immediately going hostile. _

 

_ “What if I say no? Give it to her yourself, I’m tired of being your go-between. I’m tired of you using me.” _

 

_ Isabella opened her mouth to yell, but thought better of it and stepped back. She softened, walking over to Ajay and putting her hand on his cheek, gently turning his head to face her. _

 

_ “Baby, you know I can’t do this without you… You’re all I’ve got.” _

 

_ Ajay bit his lip. He already knew he was going to give in. He always did, eventually. _

_ *** _

 

“What do you want?” Ajay asked Grace, almost involuntarily. Grace looked taken aback, even a little hurt as she rushed to reassure him.

 

“I don’t want anything,” she promised him, but Ajay’s brain wasn’t letting him believe her. He folded up his unused napkin and tucked it under his fork, then got off the stool.

 

“Thank you for cooking, but I’m not hungry. I’m just tired, I think I’m going to go to bed now.”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m tired. Goodnight, Grace.”

 

“Ajay, what-”

 

She was cut off when Ajay closed the bedroom door behind him.

 

Perplexed and hurt, Grace soon broke out of her trance and started cleaning up. She put plastic wrap over the two untouched plates and stuck them in the refrigerator, then got to work scrubbing the cookware that she’d used to make the meal. She was concerned for her boyfriend. Ajay had never acted so weird like this, it was extremely out of character. She’d never cooked for him before, so maybe he was just caught off guard? She wished she knew what was going through his head.

 

After a few minutes of letting herself feel hurt and angry, Grace made herself see reason. Whenever Ajay had a tough day, he always needed time to think. That was just how he was. She was sure that he would come around after taking some time alone, and that he’d explain to her what was going on. 

 

Grace collapsed on their couch and switched on a random Disney movie, careful to keep the volume down in case Ajay actually was asleep. But true to her expectation, just as the credits started to roll on Mulan, Ajay emerged from the bedroom and silently sat next to her. She switched off the TV and took the hand he offered her, waiting patiently for him to speak.

 

“I’m sorry, Grace,” he said, voice quiet with shame. He wouldn’t meet her eyes.

 

“What was that?” she asked, equally as softly. He took a deep breath and ran his free hand over his face.

 

“Isabella…,” he started, “Whenever she thought I was mad at her, or wanted me to do something for her, she’d make me dinner. And she was really good at manipulating me, and she’d say all the things that I wanted to hear, like ‘I just wanted to do something nice for you’. I’m sorry I flipped out on you. I shouldn’t have.”

 

“No, I guess not,” Grace responded, choosing her words carefully, “but I understand. You can’t always control your mind.”

 

“I know,” Ajay said angrily, “but I shouldn’t treat you like that! You’ve never asked me for any favors like that and you’d never do anything to hurt me and I love you too much to be treating you like that.” His free hand curled into a fist.

 

“Ajay, stop,” Grace said. “This stuff happens to everybody. And you explained what happened and you apologized and you meant your apology, and I forgive you. Really.”

 

Ajay finally turned to look at her, his eyes a little clouded. “You do?”

 

“Of course I do. It was a moment of weakness, and I know you won’t do it again.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Grace pulled him in for a soft kiss, cupping his cheek. He held on to her tightly in return. WHen they separated, he shot Grace a tentative smile that she returned full force. She stood up from the couch and held out a hand to him.

 

“Want to finish our dinner? I can heat it back up.”

 

“I’d love that.”

 

After quickly warming up the plates of tandoori chicken in the microwave, Grace joined Ajay again at the breakfast bar as he dug enthusiastically into his dinner.

 

“Wow, Grace, this is really good. How did you know how to make it? Most online recipes don’t get the spices quite right.”

 

Grace blushed and involuntarily let out a giggle. “I, well… I actually called your mom to ask how to make it right. I didn’t want to screw it up.”

 

“That explains this text I got, then,” he laughed, opening his phone to a perplexing conversation he’d had earlier with his mother. Grace studied the messages, written in Hindi, over his shoulder.

 

“Okay, let me figure this out. So she just texted you today and said… what’s that letter? She said ‘you know’, then something else, then i know that’s ‘your girlfriend’ so that must be about me, oh and then there’s ‘amazing,’ wow, okay, then that word there is… ‘marry?’”

 

“Yeah. Hey, you’re getting pretty good at that!”

 

“Thanks, my boyfriend’s teaching me.”

 

“He must be a really good teacher,” Ajay teased.

“He is. Wait, what did you say in response to that text?” Grace squinted at Ajay’s response, trying to pick out vocabulary the same way she did with his mother’s text, but Ajay flipped his phone over before she could read it.

 

“I actually have been meaning to talk to you about that.”

 

“About… learning Hindi? Are you tired of teaching me? That’s fine, I can always go take a class or get some books, or-”

 

“No,” he cut her off. “About getting married.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Silence spread through their apartment.

 

“Could we, uh…” Grace trailed off.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Could we move to the couch? My back’s starting to hurt.”

 

Ajay was taken aback by the unexpected response.

 

“Um, yes, of course.”

 

They moved to the couch, Grace still silent.

 

“I guess I should’ve started by asking if that’s something you want,” Ajay pushed, trying to break the agonizing silence.

 

“No, no, it’s not that. You know I just need a second with important stuff like this, because I really wanna think about it seriously and respond with the right words. Give me a second to sort through my thoughts, okay?”

 

Ajay, his heart pounding painfully against his ribs, nodded. He tried not to let his leg shake too much, lest it give away his nervousness. It wasn’t even a minute before Grace looked back up at him, grinning beautifully, but it felt like an eternity to him.

 

“Ajay, as long as it’s something you want too, I’d love to get married.” She took his hands.

 

“It is something I want. Wait, really?” he responded, her words only seeming to get fully through to him after the first sentence.

 

She giggled again, a soft pink blush covering her cheeks. “Yeah, really.”

 

Ajay smiled a huge, gorgeous smile and Grace was enchanted until the full meaning of the situation hit her.

 

“Wait, was that just… did you just propose to me?” she asked, a little discombobulated.

 

“Oh, no! That wasn't it! I have plans. I will, in the near future, but I still want to surprise you with it as much as I can.”

 

“Alright,” she grinned, biting her bottom lip. “I’ll be waiting.”

 

Ajay pulled her into his lap and kissed her deeply, his hands finding their way down her back to pull her against him. Grace melted into the embrace, matching his fervor as she kissed him back. She ran a hand through his thick hair, and everything was right with the world again.


End file.
